Buda Main Street Program Receives Grant From Texas Downtown Association

BUDA, TX – Dec. 15, 2020 – The Buda City Council accepted a grant at its Dec. 15 meeting in the amount of $5,000 from the Texas Downtown Association Anice Read Fund through a partnership with Communities Foundation of Texas.

The grant was awarded to the Buda Main Street Program to support a new category of the Buda Downtown Improvement Grant for COVID-19 Safety-Related projects.

The purpose of the Anice Read Fund is to provide funding support for downtown projects across the state of Texas. These funds are intended to help close financing gaps on projects of any size.

This year, Texas downtowns and small businesses have felt the impact of COVID-19 and have had to adjust operations and create innovations to keep businesses going and forge the way ahead.

Given the severity of the pandemic and its far-reaching impact, the focus of the 2020 Anice Read Fund grants was on programming and projects that supported the efforts of downtown organizations as they assisted businesses.

Through the existing Downtown Improvement Grant, funded through a partnership with the Buda Economic Development Corporation, the Buda Main Street Advisory Board may match up to 50% of the costs to a business located in the Main Street District that increases customer and employee safety, expand operational space to comply with capacity mandates, and/or increase the overall customer experience.

The advisory board voted to expand the Downtown Improvement Grant in July to include a COVID-19 Safety-Related Project category after noticing businesses quickly taking precautions to keep their staff and customers safe, even without the sales and capital to support their projects.

Since the addition of the category to the Downtown Improvement Grant, the Main Street Advisory Board has approved five applications totaling $9,000 with an impact of over $30,000 in improvements that keep customers and staff safe.

Approved projects under the grant include expanding outdoor seating areas, electronic equipment to stream weddings, clear panels, and contactless payment equipment and PPE.

The grant allows the Main Street Program to continue to provide the benefits of the Downtown Improvement Project while also supporting small scale projects that are a direct response to COVID-19.

Businesses wishing to submit an application for improvements made between April 2020 to date, may find the complete application at www.downtownbudatx.com/grants<http://www.downtownbudatx.com/grants>.